Ch..ch..ch..changes

We quietly made a big change.  After renting our home for 2 years, the owner decided to put it on the market.  Then....they chose to raise the rent on us.  So lovely.  They actually put the house on the market last fall RIGHT before Thanksgiving.  It wasn't fun, let me tell you!  It actually didn't show a ton and we hoped we'd be able to stay there as long as possible.  After there wasn't a lot of progress they decided to get very aggressive with trying to sell it.  I would say it averaged out to be one showing a week right before we moved.  No big deal you say, right?  .....Wrong!  If it were my home and I were trying to sell it, I would have to suck it up and deal with the inconvenience of last minute showings, but....ding-ding-ding...it wasn't my house.  Not only did I have to try to be cooperative about strangers walking through my house, but we were paying more monthly for the torture, and I hate (absolutely hate) when people come over to a mess.  Believe me, by the end of it, I could care less if they walked through and it looked as though a tornado had hit just moments before their arrival (I'll admit, it was never that bad, but not as good as I would have wanted it to be). 

I went through a CNA program January-April, then began physiology at BYU, and next onto Anatomy.  So, to say the least, I had lot going on.  With things being so up in the air we decided to start scouting around for a house this summer.  We didn't want to be two months into the school year and be booted out of the house, and dealing with transitions. 

Scott has done a little bit of work here and there for a bank who owns foreclosure properties.  They hired him onto a job to gut and remodel a poor excuse for a house.  He showed it to me and we discussed the prospects of moving in and renting it after it was finished.  I won't lie, I was terrified.  I know Scott is a miracle worker and I didn't doubt his craftmanship, but the house really just needed a match.  He started the process of demolition and I really tried to convince him to look other places, but he was sure of his idea. 

Fun things started happening.  The neighbors immediately came over to introduce themselves after seeing Scott there multiple times.  They were ecstatic that something was happening with the place and thrilled by the prospect of good people moving in.  The bank gave us a lot of choices as far as wall color, carpet, tile, and we were able to customize a few things as well like the master closet.  Because of school, I wasn't able to watch the complete transformation, but got a few peeks here and there.  By the time it was done....he got my heart a fluttering (he's really good at that!!).  We gave our notice to our landlords and quietly starting moving boxes. 

There was too much going on in life to make a big production of it, so we went about our business and made it happen.  I could say I was partially hesitant to announce it since it made me sad.  The kids have been attending the same school Scott's mom works at.  Not only was it somewhat of a safety net to have someone dear watching over your kids daily, but it came as a huge help and convenience as well.  She would pick the kids up in the morning and bring them home when school completed.  Luke started kindergarten this year, which is the grade she works with, and more than likely, would've been able to see grandma every day.  Another thing, I have just LOVED Lincoln's therapists.  Since we were moving 22 miles away we had to switch programs, which meant having to switch therapists.  We did get to keep one of them, Terry our vision therapist.  She's awesome and we're glad we scored with her.
The neighbors are wonderful.  Let me tell you, I'm so happy with how we've lucked out.  We've had multiple neighbors come to introduce themselves with a house warming gift in tow. Each Sunday since we started going to our new ward, we've had  multiple people introduce themselves and new ones have continued since each time.  It's been a big change, but we're enjoying it.
Lincoln's therapist have turned out to be wonderful!  His PT is actually an old friend that we just happened to be assigned to.  They've upped his therapy and we're now seeing a speech therapist as well.  So, his sessions are as follows: OT 2 x per month, PT 2 x per month, vision 1 x per month & speech 2 x per month.  It sounds like a lot because IT is.  I've vowed that if it gets to be too much I will be cutting it back a bit.  I don't want to get overloaded, but I don't want to pass up a window of opportunity which they think we are experiencing right now.  More about him in a different post!
Lots has changed, but we're all healthy and happy so that's all that matters!

For some odd reason, the paint color in the picture in the kitchen & dining room look green.  Rest assured, the paint was two-tone green & purple & I was NOT inspired by it.  It's more of a tan. You can get a good idea of how it really looks in the master bedroom picture.

And who knows exactly why, but I don't have a picture of the front of the house.  I'll have to put one on here, but it definitely won't be today!  Ummm, I must mention, not only are we paying LESS for this house, but it has a GIGANTIC front/back yard, and a peach, nectarine, cherry and apple tree as well!!!

Water park ritual

Luke is a lucky kid.  When I was young (well, I still am, really...really?), I remember being envious of children who had their birthdays during the summer months, or the spring months, or really the fall months.  My birthday is December 29th, so as you can guess, it went unrecognized in many ways. 

I never had "happy birthday"sung to me by my classmates, and I never had the opportunity to bring in treats and be doted on because of my 'special day.'  I'll tell you the one thing I got, every year, without fail....Since my birthday is four days after Christmas, the classic one liner: "Here you go, this is your birthday present AND your Christmas present :)"  Very "unique", very "special", very.....disappointing!  Come on now, I know you're thinking I should have just been grateful for what I received, and of course, we can all think that now with our adult minds, but as an 8 year old...10 year old.....12 year old child, I wasn't very happy about it.  Not to mention the fact that I hardly had a real birthday party with friends because it's right smack in the middle of winter right along with right SMACK in the middle of Christmas break.  It seems like it would be good timing, but most of my friends were usually busy with family events.  Alrighty, I'll get off my soap-box.  I guess where I was going with this whole tangent was that we've had Luke's birthday party at a water park, a reservoir, or something water related for pretty much the last five years.  I love it!  I think the fun has worn out for him though.  He suggested somewhere else for his party this year, but I was able to talk him into it just one more time.  Next birthday he's dead set on going to Chuck E. Cheese's.  Sheesh....I guess I won't get to vicariously live through him anymore...hahaha.  I'm okay with that, anything to make my little man happy!

Preemie Reunion 2011

I'm sure I'll find plenty more photos in the next little bit, but these were the ones I was really keeping my eyes peeled for. We love going to the preemie reunion and showing all the people we grew very close to, how their hard work has paid off. I love to see them drool over Lincoln and watch his gaze as if he truly remembers each one.

This cute little lady holding Lincoln was one of the first angels to take care of him.  Not only did she take care of him, but she took wonderful care of us as well.  We have fond memories of Heather and could never thank her enough!!

And to be honest, the photo/post overload is due to me slacking a little too much.  I looked at one of the past comments from a friend on the last post I did. She asked for an update....that was July 10th and the post was dated April 14th.  We just recently moved and because of the distance, we were assigned new therapists.  It's always a good and bad thing.  Good because we can go outside of the box with the therapy we were receiving before and have a new set of eyes and bad because we loved our old therapists and will miss them dearly.  We'll being doing an assesment in the next couple of weeks again to see where Lincoln is and where we need to go.  The funny thing about both of our new therapists is our PT is actually one of our friends.  We didn't put it together until she got here and we all recoginzed each other.  Her hubby and my hubby worked and played softball together in the past.  Now with my OT, I was told that she's good... really good....like Annie Miller good.  Annie Miller was one of our therapists while Lincoln was still in the NICU at Utah Valley.  We LOVED her and she LOVED Lincoln.  We were so sad to have had to move on from her, but we still get to see her from time to time and hear about her.  We've met with our new OT, Chris, once and so far she is wonderful.  Now that I've caught you up just a teeny on Lincoln, I have a bit more detailed blogging to do on our family blog! .....maybe another day!

The Big 0-5

My little guy isn't so little anymore! I can't even believe that five years ago today, I was in the hospital in Arizona, delivering this sweet baby boy! I can still vividly remember all the details of that wonderful day! He surprised us by coming three weeks early! When I went in for my dr's appointment that day, I was dilated to a 5 and my doctor told me to make my way to the hospital. We decided to run home and get a few things in order since we were caught off guard just a little bit! At home I picked up the house a bit, did the dishes and gave Scott a hair cut. We packed some bags for Scottie & Savana, then dropped them off at a friends house. By the time we got to the hospital, the nurses had been wondering if I truly was in labor since it took me so long to get there. Once they got me situated, we found out I progressed to a 6. And the rest..... is history!

Our nicknames for you:
Lukey, Lukers, ma-luker, buddy, bubba, Lukey-Lou

Luke....you're such a sweet little guy!
You're very loveable and you love to give it back in return!
You're still attached to your blanket!
You LOVE giving mommy kisses.
You LOVE your bike!!
You're obsessed with wearing basketball shorts.
You would choose chocolate milk for breakfast hands down!
You love to be a clown and make us all laugh.
You hate your hair long because that means you have curls, which you think looks girly (I love your curls!)
You're an awesome big brother and love to help with your baby brother Lincoln.
You are a very good listener and love to help when you can.
You thought you were ready to go to kindergarten, but today you weren't so sure.
You're a daredevil, we claim you to be the next X-games athlete.
You have an amazing memory.
You like to ponder your memories.
You can be my little teddy bear, but at the same time, run with the big boys!

I'm so glad you belong to me. You're rosy cheeks and big brown eyes make my little heart melt. We love you so very much Luke and are glad you're a part of our family!!

Happy fifth birthday buddy!!

Fourth o' July 2011!

I'm so bummed! I took a ton of cute pictures with my phone of us at the derby, but a few days later I had to reset my phone because it was frozen. I lost all the photos I had on there. That's why it's good idea to back everything up ASAP! Here I go again being a Debbie Downer. Makes me sad I haven't had my camera in hand as often lately. I am a tad busy with school, but I don't want too many memories to pass by! For some reason these photos aren't the best quality, but they're better than nothing!!

Oh, how I wish I could zonk out anywhere like he can!